Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
truncuated masterpiece, 4 May 2007
The Keep is quite literally a shadow of its former self. Michael Mann originally shot this film with a reputed running length of about 3 hours. However, the studio - Paramount got cold feet with a budget overrun, fired Mann, and severely edited the work in progress to about a 90 minute run time. Naturally being cut in half was never going to enhance the film and achieved the reverse. What was probably an in depth and complex adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's superb novel of the same title became a largely incomprehensible mess to anyone who had not read the book. The result was a Box Office flop on its release, accompanied by largely damning reviews from most critics. It acquired something of a cult status on its video release though. That said, many fans of Michael Mann are often astonished that that they have not heard of it or in fact seen it.
Set in WW2 Romania, a garrison of German soldiers are assigned to guard a seemingly deserted Keep, deep in the Carpathian mountains. Their captain, played by Jurgen Prochnow is dismayed to learn, however, that the Keep is not empty as originally thought but in fact is home to something ancient, evil, and very powerful. This power then embarks on killing his men. An SS contingent arrives to back up the embattled soldiers, led by a vicious Gabriel Byrne. The SS believe the local villagers to be responsible and embark on a series of atrocities. However, this just seems to make the situation worse. Accompanying the SS is a Jewish professor, played by Ian McKellen and his daughter - Alberta Watson who have been brought along to try to shed some light on what is actually going on. Before long, a mysterious stranger played by Scott Glenn arrives at the Keep, with an in depth knowledge of the place and what lies within....
My recommendation to anyone wishing to watch this film, is to read the book first because of the film's severely truncuated nature. That said some scenes within the film stand up well in their own right, and give us a glimpse of what may have been had Michael Mann been allowed to complete his vision. There are different versions of the film all over the place. Of the two UK releases on VHS, the first release - the 'Pre Cert' actually has more complete scenes than the stereo VHS that was to follow later. Various TV versions of the film across the globe appear to have additional scenes from time to time too. One piece of good news though is that Michael Mann and Paramount finally appear to have buried their differences and may well be embarking on a Director's Cut of the film which we can only hope restores it as fully as possible to what it should have been firstly. Now that would be a truly worthwhile exercise.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
DVD please!, 10 April 2007
My recollections of this movie are somewhat blurred by time, but the fact that Michael Mann directed it should give you some assurance of its calibre. It is a genuinely original idea, involving German soldiers during the Second World War becoming embroiled in a strange gothic horror scenario - think DAS BOOT crossed with HELLRAISER. The whole thing seems to bear some symbolic relation to the fiendishness of the Third Reich, and is not unlike those moments of delicious horror at the end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. In my memory - which remains hazy - the soldiers move from being figures of audience contempt to audience sympathy, as they are picked off by a greater form of evil. There are touches of PREDATOR in the structure of the film, too. A late night treat, which hasn't been screened on TV in a good long while, this cult classic deserves a DVD transfer. Hey, Maria Carey in GLITTER got one! Why can't THE KEEP?!?!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent, 4 Sep 2008
Perhaps i'm biased here but i love this film. Michael Mann may look back at it with horror but it's a great tale of the nazis and the occult. I agree with other comments that this film really does need a dvd release. There is a great cast and an excellent and atmospheric soundtrack by tangerine dream. A troop of nazis take refuge in a romanian keep which holds many secrets. One of them is a supernatural force of evil, molasar, who seeks his freedom and enlists the help of a poorly ian mckellan. Scott glenn, jurgen prochnow and gabriel byrne also star. Some will surely find it all a bit cheesy as the film uses smoke machines and 80's lighting the best it can but i've loved this film for years so it's a 5 star for me.
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by F. Paul Wilson
by F. Paul Wilson
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